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“Gram was a smart lady. She taught me a lot, but one of the most important things was that it’s never too late to apologize. She’d say ‘Adam, don’t be a dummy and hold on to your pride. A simple sorry is the greatest gift you can ever give.’ That’s what you deserve from me, Miles. I’m sorry, I screwed up, kid. I hurt you and your mom and that’s something I plan on spending the rest of my life making up for. If you’ll let me.”
He flipped is hair out of his eyes and considered me, looking much older than he should. I’d been less afraid of grown men with nearly three hundred pounds of muscle than I was of what Miles would say next.
“You aren’t going to leave again, are you?” My stomach cramped and acid burned my throat.
“Not if I can help it, kid. Sometimes I have to go out of town for work, but I’ll always come back home to you and your mom.” His brows lowered and his mouth twisted as he thought about what I’d said.
“Can I stay in the Pokémon bedroom again?” I laughed, feeling overjoyed at the question because it meant that Miles was not only forgiving me but welcoming me into their lives.
“As much as you want. In fact, maybe you can help me convince your mom that you guys should be at my house every day.” It was a dirty trick, conscripting the help of a five-year-old to get Mia to move in with me. But I’d use every dirty trick at my disposal if it got me what I wanted and that was Miles and Mia under my roof. Permanently.
37
MIA
“Sorry about the wait, what can I get for you?”
It was Saturday night and Brooks’ Bar and Grill was packed. It seemed as if the whole town had decided to come out for dinner. Once a month, Brooks had locally famous bands come in to do live sets and those nights tended to be insanely busy. Everyone was eating, drinking, dancing and having a great time.
Meanwhile, myself and the rest of the staff were hustling like our lives depended on it. Even with my new shoes, my feet were tired and aching.
I checked my watch, knowing that Adam and Miles would be here soon and I could finally take a break to spend some time with them which brought a smile to my face. Adam had merged into our lives seamlessly over the last few weeks as if he was always meant to be there.
On school mornings, I’d wake to find coffee and breakfast already made. Miles’ lunchbox would be ready and waiting for him at the front door. Adam had even taken over the cleaning I did to keep the house dust free so that Miles’ asthma didn’t act up. Even though I was still working two jobs, I wasn’t nearly as exhausted as I normally was at the end of a busy day.
We spent most nights at Adam’s house, now. At first, I was worried that we were taking over his space but he kept encouraging us to bring more of our stuff over. He’d always make up some ridiculous reason as to why something should stay at his place. “I don’t have a whisk, angel. Maybe you should bring this to the house. Grab your cookbooks, too, I’ll cook one of your favorite recipes for dinner.”
There was no proof, but I was certain that Miles was in on it. He was always asking me to pack more of his toys and books, claiming that he didn’t want to leave them behind. At this point, more than half of what we owned was at Adam’s house, if you walked around my living room, you’d think we’d been robbed.
Anything that could be duplicated magically appeared. Things like toiletries, food, spices, even the same tampons that I used. Miles and I were practically moved in, which I was completely fine with. I wanted to be at Adam’s house and Miles had made it clear he did, too.
Which is why tonight, I was going to have the official moving in conversation that I’d been avoiding, even though Adam had attempted to bring it up more than once. I’d been teetering on the edge but an earlier phone call from Mrs. Gonzalez had pushed me over. She’d decided to make the move to her sister’s house permanent and although we’d miss her terribly, I was happy for her. She’d reminded me that change didn’t have to be scary, it could also be wonderful and the thought of living with Adam filled me with nothing but excitement.
I’d been prepping for this discussion my whole shift which is why I hadn’t noticed how strange this customer was acting before I’d come to the table. I usually had a great radar for when someone was going to be a problem and I’d alert either Bear or Brooks to keep an eye them. A quick glance at the bar showed that Brooks was working the bar alone and was slammed. People were two and three deep, placing drink orders faster than they could be made. Bear was probably in the kitchen helping at the grill. For the moment, I was on my own.
“Well, aren’t I lucky, I managed to snag the most beautiful waitress in the restaurant.” He leaned back in his chair and licked his lips while dragging his gaze up and down my body. My skin crawled and I took a step back.
He was middle aged, his hair thinning and turning grey. He was well dressed, his suit looking far too expensive for him to be eating in a country bar on a Saturday night, especially alone. It was always possible that he could be passing through town on business and got hungry. But his fancy suit was pressed and he looked freshly showered.
“The specials tonight are fried catfish and our half-pound sirloin burger is always popular.” I didn’t even bother giving him my fake smile or to thank him for the unwelcome compliment. Alarm bells were going off in my brain and I wanted to get his order and leave. Then I’d see if Bear could take care of him for the rest of the night. Tips be damned, my intuition was telling me to get away from this guy.
He grimaced at my suggestions like I’d offered him a week-old tuna fish sandwich served out of a garbage can. “I’ll start with a house salad, dressing on the side, and I’m still looking at the entrees. Maybe you could get a little closer and show me your favorites.”
Something about his tone was completely off. His words were undoubtedly haughty and though I think he meant to come off as charming, his eyes were hard. The hair on the back of my neck rose and my body went into fight or flight mode. His expression was lecherous but it was the anger lurking underneath that confused and scared me.
“I can assure you that everything on the menu is delicious. I’ll give you some more time, we’re really busy tonight and I have another table I need to check on.” It was rude and dismissive but I didn’t care. I turned on my heel and practically ran to the kitchen, only glancing once over my shoulder to find that the charismatic smile was now replaced with a look of pure hatred.
The door closed and I bent over, hands on my knees as I tried to calm my breathing. When a hand touched my shoulder I whirled around and saw Liz looking concerned.
“Mia? Are you all right?” I looked from her to Bear who was standing next to the grill, burgers and steaks forgotten. How did I explain to them what had happened? I’d had customers say terrible things to me, men who thought they were paying for more than beers and burgers and I was on the menu as well. This guy hadn’t done any of those things, but something about him felt wrong.
“Table thirteen, the guy in the suit sitting alone.”
Liz squeezed my arm before walking to the small window that looked into the dining room, Bear stood next to her and I took the opportunity to drop onto the closest chair before my knees collapsed.
“You said thirteen?” Liz looked at me over her shoulder and I nodded in confirmation.
They both turned away from the window and came over to where I was sitting. “Table’s empty, hon.”
